Services

Services provided:

Conference Center

Construction of the Angus J. Howitt IPM training room is now complete. The conference center has seating for 90, modern learning aids, and is now available for use.

The room was intended to provide a unique educational setting for growers and pest management decision-makers to receive hands-on IPM and pest-scout training, and present opportunities to meet with MSU researchers for in-depth discussion of current pest management topics and cutting edge research discoveries.

It was dedicated on October 30, 2002, in honor of Dr. Gus Howitt for his research and Extension contributions to the Michigan Fruit Industry during his 29 years of service at Michigan State University as Tree Fruit Entomologist and director of the Trevor Nichols Research Complex.

The new conference room is equipped with modern teaching aids, including audio/visual technical services and microscope availability. To make a reservation download the Reservations Form and contact Laura Lamb, either by phone (269 561-5040) or by e-mail lambl@msu.edu.

IR-4 Program

The national IR-4 program serves as the primary avenue that new reduced-risk pesticide chemistries can be registered with the EPA for minor-use crops like blueberries, grapes, peaches and cherries. The TNRC is one of the few GLP facilities in the state capable of conducting this work, and over the last five years has carried out a majority of the IR-4 residue field trials for Michigan fruit pesticides.

The demand for registering new pesticides through IR-4 has risen since the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act. Because of this legislation minor-use crops like blueberries, grapes, cherries, peaches, pears and apple, may be left with a significant shortfall in pest management tools for the future. The TNRC has implemented a strategic fruit-pest chemical-screening program in order to identify potential new pesticide candidates for IR-4 as quickly and efficiently as possible. The ability of the Michigan fruit industry to make this difficult transition will be significantly affected by the swiftness at which we can identify, develop and register effective pest management alternatives.

Dormitory Availability

The TNRC dormitory has a total of six rooms. This includes 4 downstairs rooms, each with bunkbeds, and two upstairs rooms with queen sized beds.

Please contact Patty Foldesi at 269-561-5040 with as much notice as possible concerning the days you would like to stay. Upon arrival at TNRC, clean sheets and towels will be folded on the bed. After your stay, please remove sheets from bed and place in the laundry room. In addition, please replace your sheets and towels with clean folded sets, which can be found in the linen closet at the end of the downstairs hall. If you are planning on staying over a weekend, the station coordinator (wisejohn@msu.edu) or the farm manager (mdaly@accn.org) need to be notified.